No Greater Love
by SunshyAlone
Summary: Traveling with Ed and Al is great, but they're so closed off. To me they're close friends, but to them I feel like no one. *Hopefully better than it sounds, but I apologize for this pathetic first fanfic.*
1. Chapter 1

Hey readers! My name is Sunshy. I'm hoping that you guys like my story Also, I'd love to get reviews, and constructive criticism is also welcome. Hope you enjoy reading my story, and just as a note, there might be spoilers. Then again, there might not be spoilers.  
I DO NOT and will never own Fullmetal Alchemist, nor will I own any of the characters or places that have been mentioned in either the show, the manga, or the video games. I do, however, own Tammy Chancey, the town and people of Theos, and almost all of the plot line, except the bits about finding the Philosopher's stone.

The weather was fairly warm, despite that it was already early November. I was sitting in a tree as the sun sank slowly into the horizon line. I had been there for a while, scraping the blade of my pocketknife against the bark. I noticed that there were voices of to the right of the tree. It sounded like two boys, one about my age, and the other a couple years younger.  
"Where should we go next, brother?" the younger sounding one asked.  
"I was thinking maybe we should go here, unless Mustang puts me somewhere else."  
I heard a piece of paper crinkle, as if someone had poked it. A map? They seem to be traveling. I wonder where they're from, I thought. I leaned through the branches of the tree to see what the boys looked like. One of them, the older sounding one, was dressed in a black shirt and black pants, with a long red jacket over it. He had blond hair tied back in a braid, with a shock of hair falling over his eyes. The other boy was in what looked to be a suit of armor. What the hell? A silver sparkle caught my eye. It was a silver chain hanging from the blond boy's belt loop into his pocket. It looks like the chain for a pocket watch, like the state alchemists use. No way, he's too young to be a state alchemist. Unless he's the one, what was his name? I got bored staring at them and leaned back against the tree. Scraping at the bark some more. How fun. Suddenly it seemed quiet. What sound is missing? Then I realized that the boys had stopped talking. I froze.  
"Hey, Al. Is it just me, or is somebody sitting up there?" It sounded like the blond boy. Well, I guess armor-boy is named Al. Whoa, he just said... I turned quickly, looking through the tree branches at the boy. My eyes met the blond boy's and it registered in my mind that his eyes were the same color as mine. I knew that he saw me so there's no point in pretending I wasn't there. I jumped out of the tree, landing on my feet. Instantly, my right leg buckled and I fell in a heap on the ground. Stupid prosthetic. I hate having to wear a spare. I thought. I stood up slowly, making sure I hadn't hurt anything. The heels of my hands were bleeding where I scraped them but nothing else hurt. I looked up and saw that the boys were staring at me.  
"Do you have a problem?" My tone was icy but I was a little embarrassed and didn't want to show it. I couldn't help being a little less than super friendly. Armor-boy recovered first.  
"No, no problem. Are you alright?" Al? said.  
"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for caring. Who are you two?" I asked.  
I'm Edward Elric and this is my little brother, Alphonse." said Edward.  
"What's your name?" Ed asked me.  
"You can call me Tammy." I replied. "What brings you two here, to the middle of nowhere?"  
"We're looking for something" Al answered.  
"Are you succeeding at finding it?" I wondered."Not yet, but we will." Ed stated.  
"Have you two been traveling all day?" I asked.  
"Yes we have. Is there a place we could stay for the night?" Al questioned.  
"Of course, as long as you don't mind sharing a room with a girl." I said cheerfully. Ed looked at me strangely. Noticing, I laughed. "My room is the only one not filled right now, so you would have to share. If you are interested, follow me." I turned and walked to the house where I was staying. An older woman named Mrs. Blaire ran a sort of shelter for people with no other place to go. That's where I had been staying every summer for the last couple years. Ed and Al followed me to the house. As I walked into the kitchen, I yelled,  
"Mrs. Blaire?"  
"Yes?" She answered. Her voice was muffled because she was digging through some boxes in the pantry.  
"I found some boys who could use a place to stay." I told her.  
"Well as long as you don't mind sharing your room with them, I don't see any reason why not." She said. I turned toward the door, where the boys had been waiting. I waved them in and introduced them to Mrs. Blaire.  
"This is Ed and Al Elric." I said gesturing toward the boys. "You guys can stay. Ricky and his friend are leaving soon, so you two can have their room then."  
We stayed up talking for a while, getting to know each other a tiny bit more, then went up to my room, where we each quickly fell asleep.

a week later  
(A note: We're all much better friends now)

I woke up with a slight feeling of dread. For a minute, I didn't know why. Then it came to me.  
"Damn," I said loudly, forgetting my guests.  
In one of the beds across the room Ed stirred sleepily. He looked over at me.  
"What's wrong Tammy?", he asked.  
"Nothing. Go back to sleep, it's only 6." I replied. I got up, took a shower, got dressed, and went downstairs to find Ed eating pancakes with the other semi-permanent residents. Al was helping Mrs. Blaire cook.  
"Good morning", I told Ed. He was too busy shoving pancakes in his mouth to reply. I poked at my own plate, but I didn't feel like eating, even though I knew I should. I shoved my plate over to Ed and stood up.  
"I'll be back tomorrow, sometime before noon.", I said to the room in general. Mrs. Blaire nodded.  
"Okay, your things will still be here."  
I smiled and left. I walked along the path all day. After getting lost twice, I finally reached my destination, a small house, as the sun set. A small sign near the door said "Given's Automail". I walked up and knocked on the door. A middle-aged man answered.  
"Oh, hey Tammy," he said, smiling.  
"Hello, Michael. Please tell me that my leg is finished." I said tiredly. He smiled.  
"Almost, Ms. Impatient. It'll be ready by tomorrow morning. Well, come in. We just sat down for dinner, would you like to join us?" At the mention of food, my stomach growled and I remembered skipping breakfast.  
"Sure." I replied. I walked in to the kitchen, where Michael's wife, Marilyn, was setting the table. She nodded her hello. We all sat down to eat. Afterward, Michael worked on my automail and I went to bed.  
the next morning  
I woke up and looked over at the clock. 9:00. Late. Damn. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I overslept. I walked into the kitchen, where Marilyn and Michael were talking. Michael looked over at me.  
"Good morning, sleepyhead,"he teased. I couldn't help but grin, even though I was anxious.  
"Yeah, yeah. Shall we get this over with?" I asked.  
"Yes, if you're ready," he replied. Michael, Marilyn, and me went into their work room. There on the table was my automail leg, looking good as new.  
"We've adjusted it so it fits your height better and fixed the problem with the knee," Marilyn told me.  
"Thanks guys. I'm sorry I keep screwing it up," I said shamefaced. I sat in the chair in the middle of the room. I was starting to get nervous and my hands were sweating. Marilyn took off the spare leg I had been wearing and Michael knelt down next to me to attach my auto mail to what was left of my right leg. Marilyn took my hand and Michael counted.  
"One...two...three!" A wave of pain spread through my leg and up through the rest of my body. I clenched my teeth. Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream A whimper escaped me, and then I passed out.  
12:30, same day  
I opened my eyes, finding myself staring straight into the side of the couch in Michael's living room. My leg was throbbing, but it was already fading.  
"Nnnnn" That slipped, I didn't mean to make any noise. I was suddenly aware of someone next to me.  
"Ed? What are you doing here?" I asked him.  
"You never told us you have automail." He said accusingly. Totally avoided the question I decided to ignore that fact.  
"Too many people think me a freak because of it, I've learned to hide it." I told him quietly. It was true, I had been hiding it from everyone that knew me. Except for Michael and Marilyn, nobody that I had met in the past two years knew I had automail. Ed looked hurt.  
"How could I think that?" He took off the red jacket he always wore, and then took off the black one under it. His whole right arm...automail.  
"I've never met anyone even close to my age with automail before." I said.  
"Yeah, me neither. The only reason I have it is so I can do what I need to on my own. That sort of brings us to why I'm here. You've guessed I'm a state alchemist, right?" I nodded and he continued. "Well, I need to get back to Central soon. By tomorrow night."  
"That...that's soon...Can--Can I come with you?" Ed looked relieved when I said this, but then seemed like he couldn't care either way.  
"Do what you want, but know that if you come with us, it's likely that you will end up injured more than once. Are you sure?"  
"Of course." I told him.

I'll update on Saturday night. Remember to review.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, readers. I would love to hear from you all!

Disclaimer: I do NOT and WILL NEVER own Fullmetal Alchemist, or any of the characters, places, or things found in the show, movie, and/or video games. I still own Tammy Chancey, and the people and town of Theos.

"Do you know where Al might be? I haven't seen him since we got here." Ed said. I

thought for a second.

"He probably found the cat. Should we go look for him?" I asked.

"Sure," Ed replied. WE walked outside, looking for Al. After about 15 minutes we spotted him kneeling near the shed, petting Michael's cat Patricia. The shed was a good 35 yards from where Ed and I were standing. I turned to him.

"Wanna race?"

"On your mark, get set, go!" was his only response. We took off sprinting towards Al and the shed. I was confident that I would win, Ed was confident that he would. I glanced to the side to see how Ed was doing and I was shocked to see that he was almost in front of me. I put on a sudden burst of speed, but he got in front of me all the same, at which point I took a flying leap and tackled him. I could hear Al laughing. I stood up and dusted myself off, then offered my hand to Ed. He took it and I pulled him up.

"Oh, hey, I need to pay Michael, I'll be right back," I said. I did that and went back outside, finding Ed and Al on the path ready to go.

"We're going to Mrs. Blaire's, right?" I asked. Ed nodded and off we went.

Couple hours later

It was getting dark already, with a full moon rising over the treetops. We had just reached Mrs. Blaire's house. I walked in quietly, Ed and Al right behind me. Nobody was in the kitchen. When we got upstairs, Ed told me that Ricky left the day before, so the boys now had their own room. They went to bed, and went into my room. I got dressed in my pajamas and flopped onto my bed.

four hours later

I still hadn't gone to sleep yet, so I went outside, p.j.s and all. I climbed the same tree that Ed and Al had found me in, and I sat there for a while just staring up at the moon. I heard a door slam and looked over toward Mrs. Blaire's house. A short figure stood on the front porch.Ed? What is he doing out here? OK not a great question, but yeah...I thought. I watched him and, to my surprise, he walked straight toward my tree. He sat near the gnarled roots and just stayed there, flipping through a notebook. I could have fun with this I jumped from the tree, landing almost on top of Ed.

"Aaagghhhhh! What the hell?!?!" He yelled, jumping to his feet with his hand over his heart and gasping for air.

"Ed, quiet, it's just me," I laughed.

"What the hell were you doing in a tree at this hour?" He asked.

"What the hell were you doing under a tree at this hour?" I retorted. "I was thinking," I continued. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going back inside to go to sleep now. Are you?"

"No, I'm sleeping out here," I told him.

"Ok, well, good night," he said.

"Sleep easy and sweet dreams," I responded. I climbed back up the tree and watched Ed walk back to the house. He stopped on the front porch and looked back. I couldn't see his face and it was slightly eerie. An owl hooted and I looked away, leaning back against the cool rough bark of the tree. I heard the door squeak shut. I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Dawn

I opened my eyes and was immediately blinded by the first golden rays of the rising sun. I sat up stiffly and slowly climbed down the tree. I walked to the house under a brilliantly pink sky. In the kitchen, only Mrs. Blaire and one of the older women were at the table. I nodded, waved, and continued down the hall, then up the steps. I went into my room. Most of my clothes littered the floor. Sighing, I crawled around picking up all of my dirty T-shirts and jeans, and things and putting them in a pile. I spied my jacket under my bed. So that's where you've been hiding. I had just wiggled under the bed to get the jacket when I heard footsteps in the hall.

"Tammy?" Ed questioned. I jumped at the sound of his voice, hitting my head on the wooden bed frame. Sitting up, rubbing my head, and clutching the jacket, I looked up at him reproachfully.

"That is what I am usually called, yes. Do you need something?"

"No, I just didn't know you came inside. Are you ready to go?"

"Uh, sort of. That's what I'm doing now." I held up the jacket. "A whole summer in one place gave me a lot of time to misplace stuff, but I think I've got it all."

"Well, the train leaves right after lunch, so we should get going soon. It's a long walk to the station." Ed commented.

"I'll be down in a couple minutes." I said. Ed nodded and went downstairs. I finished gathering my things and put it all into a drawstring shoulder bag that I had been using for a long time and carried the bag downstairs. Ed and Al were down there already. Al was talking to Mrs. Blaire and Ed was shoving a bagel in his mouth.

"Hey, bagelboy, ready to leave?" I asked.

"Mrgrmulflgull" He replied, swallowing the bagel. I laughed.

"English please."

"Yeah, we're ready to go." He said. "Woohoo, another trip to Central, to see my best buddy, Colonel Roy Mustang." I paled.

"Roy Mustang? He's your commanding officer?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Um, never mind!" I said hurriedly. Ed gave me a strange look, but let it go. I turned to Mrs. Blaire.

"I'm not sure if I'll be back next summer, so, thanks for everything."

"That's quite alright dear. Just be sure to pay me a visit if you're ever around" She said. I nodded and that was that. We were off to Central!

Ok, I know it's a bit dull, sorry. It does get better, I had a lot of fun writing the next part. And if a lot of this story is in italics, it's because I'm stupid and can't figure out the code. I now know how to give reviews! Awesomeness!!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Yeah, I wish I owned Fullmetal Alchemist. Sadly, I do not. Nor do I own any of the characters, events, or places mentioned anywhere in the manga, show, and/or video games. But I do own Tammy and the town and people of Theos. If I catch you stealing them I will do my best to boil you in oil. Merry Christmas!

After four hours of walking, we finally reached the train station. We bought our tickets and boarded the train. Ed and I took one seat, with Ed by the window, and Al took the seat facing us. As the train started moving I looked out the window, but instead found myself watching Ed's reflection. He was wearing a very thoughtful, almost worried expression, and his eyes were filled with determination. It was almost startling to see. I had to look away. I guess I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew someone was waking me up.

"Tammy, wake up. Tammy, we're here, we've reached Central, wake up," I opened my eyes. My head was resting on Ed's shoulder. I sat up with a start.

"I'm up, I'm awake. Sorry Ed." He smiled.

"No problem. Come on, don't want to be late meeting the Colonel." He said sarcastically. He walked away muttering something that sounded like "Colonel Bastard" but I couldn't be sure.  
As soon as all three of us were off the train we were greeted by a man and a woman, both in military uniform. Ed groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Not you two again. I thought we were done being babysat," he complained. He sighed, then continued. "Tammy, this is Second Lieutenant Maria Ross, and Sergeant Danny Block," They both saluted Ed. That is really weird

"No, we're not your bodyguards this time, just an escort. There have been a few killings lately, and all the victims were young dark haired girls. You told us about Tammy when you called and we just want everybody to be safe. Edward, you are to report to Colonel Mustang at once." The woman said. Ed sighed again.

"No point in putting it off."

A few minutes later we reached Central HQ and went into the impressive building. Ed went into a room to talk privately with Colonel Mustang, leaving Al and I out in the hall. In the silence my curiosity got the better of me.

"Hey Al?"

"Yeah?"

"You and Ed...He's a state alchemist, even though he hates being ordered around, and even though he's so young. You're always wearing that armor. It's kind of weird. What happened?" I hope I didn't offend him On the contrary, Al only seemed to be a bit embarrassed.

"Um, maybe we should wait for Ed before explaining that." I left it alone and we lapsed back into silence. About ten minutes later Ed came out looking a bit ticked off. And behind him was...Colonel Roy Mustang. The Flame Alchemist. I watched the surprise register on his face when he saw me. Instantly I regretted coming here, I didn't want to remember, and now I wouldn't be able to avoid it.

"Tammy? Is that really you?" he asked, sounding extremely confused.

"Yeah..." I answered reluctantly.

"What are you doing here? How have you been? Why did you leave?" That made me angry.

"You know damn well why I left. What was I supposed to do, stay here, where every day I would just be a burden? Oh, yeah, and there was the little fact of being constantly reminded of Dad How was I supposed to do that?" I shouted. How could he be that oblivious? I ran out of the building, ran until I could hardly breathe, until I was completely lost. I stopped near a little shop, out of the way in a little alley really. There were tears on my cheeks and my vision was blurred.

Flashback

Headlights...A hospital room...My leg hurt...Waking up again, being able to think clearly again. The pain in my leg was gone. Looking down, what I saw didn't make any sense...Learning that my mom, my little brother, my dad, even a part of me, was gone...

End Flashback

A footstep brought me back to reality. A huge form was blocking the glow from the shops across the street. Al? No, it wasn't Al, just a really big guy. He gave me a nasty grin and for some reason I was suddenly afraid.

"Wh--Who are you?" I cried. The man gave no answer, just held up his hand, showing me that he was holding a piece of metal, jagged at one end. I started to scream, but he caught me in the side of the head with the metal, and I went completely limp. I don't remember any more.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, any of the characters, and/or the places and events that are mentioned anywhere in the manga, show, and/or the video games. I do own Tammy and the people and town of Theos. If I find that you have stolen them, I will string you up by your eyelids fifty feet from the ground, and I will leave you there for an infinite amount of time.

My eyes fluttered open. The first thing I saw was a bright light shining right at me. It didn't help my pounding head at all. Something was dripping down the side of my face. No doubt it was blood. Perfect. Where the hell am I? What happened? I sat up slowly and the room instantly started to spin. I sat very still for a minute and it stopped. looking around I saw that there was indeed a pool of blood where my head had been and that there was blood on my shirt, although I didn't know where that had come from. Oh, wonderful. I was in a decent sized room, about 30x20. There was a figure sitting at a table in the corner. Seeing as my hands and feet were tied and nothing had been done about my injury, the figure obviously wasn't friendly. Was that the guy who had done this?

"Hello?" My voice was weak. The man looked up.

"Do you need something?" The man said. the question was neither sincere nor friendly. In my fear my breathe caught.

"Yeah actually. Where am I? Why did you bring me here?" I asked. I sounded much calmer than I felt.

"I brought you here so I could listen to your screams as I shred your flesh," the man gave me the same nasty smile as before, in the alley. What the hell?

"What kind of sick freak are you?" I shouted. The man simply smirked and stood. he walked lazily toward me. Kneeling next to me he opened one of his fists. There in his palm was a slim knife. It gleamed in the harsh light.

"Do you know what I'm going to do with this?" He asked calmly. I spat at him. He pushed the blade lightly into the skin of my throat just barely drawing blood.

"Well, aren't you cute?" he leered at me. In one smooth motion he took the blade from my throat and pinned me to the ground, then put the knife on the bare skin of my right arm. I clenched my teeth as the cold metal bit into my soft flesh. The man giggled delightedly at the sight of blood. He continued to pull the blade slowly down the side of my arm. It hurt badly, but I wasn't going to give this freak the satisfaction of hearing me scream. He kept pulling the blade down the side of my arm. My vision started to blur, I was going to pass out from the pain. The door burst open. Ed and Al stood there, Ed with his right arm transmuted into a short blade. The man sneered at them and stood.

"Help," I gasped. Al ran to me while Ed dealt with the psycho guy. The way I was laying I couldn't see much of their fight, but Al kept flinching. He was trying to stop the bleeding from my arm, but he wasn't doing a great job of it. I waved him off.

"My jacket should be in here, I was wearing one before," I said. "See if you can't find that and use it." He searched around frantically for it. Meanwhile, Ed and the guy were still fighting. They moved into my line of vision and every so often I would hear one of them mutter something that I couldn't understand over the sound of metal on metal. Al jumped up suddenly, shouting.

"I found it!" The noise distracted psycho-guy, giving Ed a two second advantage, which he took. Al kneeled next to me again. He wrapped my bleeding arm in my jacket. Everything happened so fast. The next thing I knew, Sir Psycho was flat on his back, with Ed's left boot on his throat. Ed clapped quietly and placed his hands on the ground. A small cage quickly built itself over the guy, a cage too small for him to even sit up in. He still had that sick grin on his face. Ed tuned toward Al and me.

"Tammy, are you OK?" He asked. A fairly stupid question, it was pretty obvious that I wasn't. Al answered anyway.

"No, she's not. We need to get her to a hospital or something." he replied. He picked me up very gently, because I couldn't walk with my head wound. Ed nodded and started to walk out. As he walked in front of me I noticed something.

"Ed, you're bleeding." I said quietly. He put his hand to the dark spot on his side and winced.

"I guess it's worse than I thought," he said. Suddenly I was really tired. I closed my eyes.

Well, there you have it, another chapter. Fun to write, yet seemingly too dramatic. Every time I reread it sounds worse. Meh.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, alright? Actually, I do own some of it. Tammy is mine, most of the dialogue is mine, Theos and the people of it are mine, most of the plot is mine, and that's all. That is the only part that I actually made up, got it?

When I next woke up, the first thing I saw were concerned golden eyes.

"Ed!" I jumped up and threw my arms around him. Then I remembered that he had been bleeding the last time I saw him. "Are you OK?" He smiled and pushed me away.

"I'm fine, you got off worse than I did. How are you feeling?" He asked. I looked down at myself. There was a bandage around my neck. Another one was around my head and there was a sleeve sort of thing around my right arm. I could feel another bandage around my stomach.

"I feel alright, but why is there a thing around my stomach? I don't remember getting hurt there..." I was so confused. Ed frowned.

"There was a pretty big wound there. The doctor said that you almost bled to death. If we'd been a little bit later in getting you back, it would've been over." he looked upset.

"What's wrong? I'm here, nothing happened to me, nothing fatal anyways. Are you sure that you're OK?" I was really worried, he was acting strange.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm sure I'm alright, Never been better." His tone of voice told me otherwise.

"Ed, it's not your fault. If anything, it's mine...I'm sorry." I was suddenly close to tears. I had almost gotten my best friends killed! How could I do that? It really was all my fault. How could I bring myself to look him in the eye again? His life could have ended, and it would have been because of me. The door opened and there stood Colonel Roy Mustang. I glared at him.

"What do you. want?"

"Nothing from you, I have business with Fullmetal." he turned to Ed. "I'm assuming that this won't stop you from going to Theos?" Ed looked angry.

"You expect me to just leave her here?"

"I expect you to follow orders and do as you're told. You have something to do in Theos, you need to be there, not here." Watching them was like watching little kids argue.

"Ed's been hurt too. How can you ask him to go anywhere right now?" Judging from the look on his face, Colonel Mustang didn't know that Ed had actually been injured. He recovered fairly quickly.

"A week to recover should be enough. I want you to report to me before you leave." Then he turned to me. He looked tired.

"Tammy...Why did you leave? Without telling anyone either? How could you do that to us here? It wasn't a question of a place to stay, you know that you were welcome to stay with me. I can't figure out why. Just help me understand!" I looked at him. It was true that I had a place to stay with him, he offered right after the accident. He had been my father's best friend, and a guy that I trusted almost completely. How could he not get it?

"Because, if I stayed with you, every day I would have to wake up and be reminded that they are gone. In addition to that, I'd only be a burden. What would you have done with a seven year old cripple? I didn't want to stick someone with that, it's not fair. The only choice that I had was to leave and I couldn't have told you, you would've stopped me." I said. He looked astonished.

"How could you think that? You wouldn't have been a burden at all, it was the only thing I could do for my friend... " He stood, nodded his good bye, and left. The nurse came in then with some food. As Ed and I were eating Al asked me what exactly happened. I smiled sadly.

"My dad was a state alchemist. He considered Colonel Mustang to be his best friend. There was a car accident one night. My dad, my mom, and my little brother were killed. I lost most of my right leg. Colonel Mustang offered me a place to stay, but I ran away as soon as I was strong enough. I lived at Mrs. Blaire's for the first time that summer. Then, when winter came, I went into a city. I don't remember the name of it. When it got warm again, I moved back to Mrs. Blaire's. I kept that routine until I met you two. After I turned eight, I worked at Michael's place until I earned enough for automail. That's more or less my story. What's yours?" Ed looked at Al and they both nodded.

"Please don't scream." Al said. Then he lifted up the helmet of his armor and leaned forward. It was...empty?! My plate fell from my hands and shattered on the floor.

"What the hell? How--What are you?" I whispered. Al put his helmet back.

"This is what happens when you try to resurrect one dead person. Our mom...she died. We tried to bring her back and now we're paying for trying to play god. My entire body was taken, as was Ed's left leg. Then he gave up his right arm to put my soul in this armor. We're looking for the Philosopher's Stone, to restore our bodies." I nodded, completely stunned. How could you try that? Even I didn't do something like that! It's crazy, that's suicide. but I said nothing. The nurse came in again.

"Is everything OK here? I heard something break." She said.

"Yes, everything's fine, I dropped my plate is all. Clumsy me!" I said. I knelt on the ground and scooped the shards into a pile, then put one hand over them and one on my necklace. The plate glowed, then put itself back together. Ed looked at me.

"You're an alchemist? You never said anything about it."

"Yes, Ed, I am an alchemist. Not skilled enough to be a state alchemist, even if I wanted to be, but I can do alchemy."


	6. Chapter 6

A week later, Ed was healed completely, but the scab on my arm still cracked occasionally, which I found very annoying. Also, the wound on my belly still had to be bandaged for another three days. We left the hospital for a train to Theos. Supposedly, we would get there in another week, because we had to switch trains three times, and we had to stay overnight in one town, Risembool. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember why. The first train wasn't bad, although very crowded. Ed fell asleep within ten minutes of departing, so Al and I talked.

"Tammy, what do you think of Ed being a state alchemist ?"

"My personal opinion? I think Ed pretty much sold his soul to the military. I think it's going to be hard if there's a war, because Ed's conscience won't let him kill innocent people, and he'll end up court-martialed for disobeying orders."

"But . . . your dad was a state alchemist, wasn't he?" I stiffened and Al shook his head.

"Forget it, I'm sorry, it's none of my business."

"No, it's OK. Yeah, my dad was a state alchemist. We used to argue about it. He always thought that he had a duty to his country, and I think that you should only do something by your free will, not because someone ordered you to. I'm not sure if he realized that he would eventually be given the order to kill someone whose crime might seem trivial to him. . . Why did Ed become a state alchemist anyway?" Al looked down.

"My brother is sure it's his fault that I'm like this now. I told him that it isn't, but he won't listen to me. He wanted to become a state alchemist so he would have access to all sorts of files dealing with human transmutation, and research papers, and things." I nodded.

"That does, in a way, make sense. I'd. . . I'd like to help you, in any way I can. Do you know exactly what Ed has to do in Theos?"

"No, he didn't say. Something that he'll be annoyed about, probably. He has such a short temper." At the sound of the word "short" Ed twitched in his sleep. Al and I laughed.

The next day, about two o'clock PM

I sat up, stretched, and then fell off the seat as the train lurched to a stop.

"Yes, finally " I jumped to my feet, and then dashed out the door of the train. The boys were right behind me. A familiar looking blond girl was waiting on the platform.

"T—Tammy?" she questioned. I nodded slowly, completely confused. We were in...Risembool...

"Winry?" I squealed.

"Yes " We hugged each other, then turned to the boys, who were blankly staring at the two of us.

"Er...Do you two know each other?" Ed asked.

"No, Ed, I don't know Tammy. I'm hugging her for reasons unknown," Winry answered sarcastically. Now it was my turn to be confused.

"Huh?" 

"Oh, Tammy, Ed is my friend from a long time ago," Winry told me.

"Yeah, and she's my automail mechanic. That's why I have such great automail, because she has no life beside that," Ed said in a teasing tone. Winry smacked him in the back of the head.

"So, you've moved up, huh? When I first met you, all you did was talk about how great automail is. Now you're actually making it. Wow," I said. Winry nodded.

"Why don't we all go back to Granny's house? That way we'll be out of the cold. And you're probably hungry."

Later, at Pinako's house, we were sitting at the table, drinking hot chocolate and discussing how, exactly, we all knew each other.

"So...You've known the boys for your whole life?" I asked Winry.

"Yep. And you met them...at Mrs. Blaire's, in a tree?" I nodded.

"Exactly. Y'know, I think I remember you saying something about your friends Ed and Al. Maybe it's all in my head," I said.

"I think you came here the year they were training with Izumi. They were all the way in Dublith then," she told me.

"Oh yeah And that explains why they weren't here," I said thoughtfully. Ed cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Hello, we're still here," he said, sounding irritated.

"Ahem. So? If you have something to say, then say it," I answered. He apparently didn't have anything to say, because he shut up. Him and Al started talking alchemy, which I half listened to. The other half of my brain was focused on Winry, who was talking about a new automail design that she was dying to try.

"Oh That reminds me. How's your leg?" she asked. I pulled my pant leg up and she squealed. "You got automail From someone else?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't know you did automail back then," I said.

"Whose work is it?"

"Given's. Michael Given. You know him?" Winry had her face screwed up thoughtfully.

"I think so...Hey Granny?"

"What is it?" Pinako answered from a back room.

"Do we know a Given that does automail?"

"Yes. Great work, simply wonderful. Why?"

"Oh, just because. Can you come here a minute?" Pinako entered the room. She looked shorter than I remembered her being. She looked at me.

"Hmm...are you...Tammy?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's me," I said softly.

"And how have you been?"  
It continued like that for several more hours, late into the night. Finally we all went to bed.


	7. Chapter 7

Shortly after we woke the next morning, Ed, Al, and I decided we should spar a bit, make sure we were in shape for. . . whatever it was that was so important in Theos. Ed's skills far surpassed my own, which I was expecting. He was, after all, a trained state alchemist. I was tired long before Ed, and of course, Al didn't get tired at all and in half an hour he had Ed beat. We were all hot and sweaty just in time to catch the train.

And the train ride. . . . long, boring, dull stretches of time, punctuated only when we stopped to switch trains. It truly amazed me that Ed could sleep that much, but he did. There was one small incident, which made us switch trains unexpectedly, so there was another overnight stop the day before we reached Theos.

That night, Ed, Al and I rented a room at an inn. There were only two beds, so I slept on the floor by my own choice, though I knew Al didn't really need a bed. Late that night, Ed was still awake and so was I. I suppose Al was awake too, but he was polite enough to not interrupt as Ed and I spoke.

"Tammy?" Ed's voice was quiet and hesitant, as if he wasn't sure of what he was saying.

"Nnn?" was my response. I was laying on the floor on my side, staring away from Ed.

"Could you stay here tomorrow? I mean, instead of going with us to Theos?" I twisted around to face him.

"But, why?"

"It's something Al and I have to do alone. It doesn't concern you," he said.

"How could it not concern me? I've been with you guys since-since November! I'm practically related to you!" I said indignantly.

"You can't go. It's better that way, I promise," he told me.

"How could it be better? I won't be with you guys! I'll be stuck here, waiting, without knowing what's going on, and - Hey! Since when can you tell me what to do?" I demanded.

"I'm older than you. Plus, I'm a state alchemist and you're a civilian. And right now, you are being commanded to stay here until either Al or I return. Got it?" Ed asked.

"Got it," I replied sullenly. Yeah, got that I'm being ordered. Doesn't mean I'll obey. I let him think what he wanted, rolled back over, and eventually fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, Ed and Al were already leaving and I just caught them as they walked out the door. I said good-bye to Al and ignored Ed. Though Al hadn't said anything in my defense, I figured he and Ed had already discussed my whereabouts for the next few days and I knew that once Ed thought something was best, there was no way for anyone, even Al, to change his mind. The thought of last night's conversation made me want to punch Ed, but I didn't and the boys left. I followed them, of course. I bought a train ticket last minute and stayed a few cars behind the boys.

By the time we reached Theos, I was stiff from sitting in the same place for so long and I was starting to think my lips were permanently stuck together from the long stretch of silence. I looked around quickly and realized the car was empty. Remembering that I needed to keep up with the boys, I dashed out the door at the back of the car, then jumped over the bulky metal latch that hooked the cars together. I saw the boys getting off the train and lost track of them as they turned a corner and seemingly vanished. That set me up on a wild goose chase, asking perfect strangers if they had seen a suit of armor and a short boy. It seemed like I would never find them, until a lady told me she had seen a pair that fit the description.

I saw them walking into a small gray brick building a few stories tall. The building itself was run down, seemingly out of place in an otherwise nice neighborhood. It looked as if the building had been abandoned for a long time, forgotten about. Now I was curious as well as angry. This place looked harmless, I couldn't understand why Ed wouldn't allow me to go with them. I waited a few minutes, then followed my friends into the building.


	8. Chapter 8

I followed the boys into what seemed to be a large warehouse, empty except for pile of wooden pallets and debris where sections of the upper floor had given out. The lighting was dim, given off by a few bare bulbs.

Ed and Al stood nearly back to back in the middle of the room A too-familiar voice rang out.

"Fullmetal. . ." Colonel Mustang stepped out into the light.

"What are you doing here, Colonel?" Al asked, sounding confused, relieved, and worried all at once. The Colonel smiled in an eerie way.

"I'm afraid you've become a liability, pipsqueak," he said, his voice changing to a raspy tone on the last word. Horrified, I watched Colonel Mustang's body shrink and shift to that of a small androgynous person in their late teens.

"Envy!" Ed growled. "I should've known."

"Ed. . . What's going on?" I asked, forgetting to stay quiet.

"Tammy?! What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted, turning to face me.

"It would appear she followed you here," a low voice murmured. It was accompanied by the form of a young woman with rather large breasts. She and the person called Envy were watching in amusement.

"Tsk tsk," Envy sighed, "It would have been better if you had listened to Fullmetal. Now you'll get to die with him."

Ed and I turned to face the two of them.

"Tammy, why didn't you listen to Ed?" Al asked with anguish in his voice as the two creatures rushed us. I didn't have a chance to answer, he was attacked by a short fat creature that was obviously with the other two.

"Al!" I shouted, but I had a problem of my own. The woman chose me as her target. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Her fingernails had grown incredibly long and sharp. She stabbed at my legs with them, and when I dodged she swept sideways and caught me anyways. The resulting cut wasn't very deep, but it definitely hurt.

Meanwhile, Ed was dealing with Envy-or trying to. It wasn't a very fair fight. Every injury Ed dealt Envy healed immediately.

Concentrating on my own problem was difficult, knowing my friends were in danger, but the woman demanded my attention. I remembered the pocketknife I always carried and pulled it out. I knew it wouldn't be much help, but it made me feel better. I couldn't get close enough to the woman to use my knife, she kept slashing at me. By the time I got closer, she'd have sliced me to ribbons, and even if she didn't she probably had the same healing abilities as her companion. My heart raced as I tried to figure out a way out of this mess. The woman lunged toward me, her hand with its fatally sharp claws extended. I fell to my knees to avoid her, hoping to use my knife to injure her as a stood. I managed to gouge the woman's thigh and thought it made her hesitate, the wound healed incredibly fast. I ran toward a pile of chunks of concrete and wood from the upper floor, thinking to use them as something of a shield. Kneeling behind a large piece of concrete, I cursed myself as I realized that I had led the woman to where Ed and Envy were fighting. Ed had a slash across one cheek and was obviously tiring, though Envy was as energetic as ever.

Al had small holes in his armor, like bullet holes, but when I looked at the creature he was fighting it seemed to be spitting. Then I noticed Al's armor was missing big chunks, about the same size as the creature's mouth. Was the thing's saliva acidic enough to melt metal? Al seemed to be holding up well, however. I saw all of this in an instant, and then the woman was there, her deadly claws searching over the debris pile. She pierced my shoulder and when I tried to twist away I was painfully reminded of the wound she dealt me earlier. I fell to the ground and rolled under a small shelf formed by a piece of concrete. I inched forward on my stomach toward where I thought the woman was and peeked out. I was right, she was standing in front of me. She looked down and as she spotted me I lunged toward her, stabbed her in the neck, and dragged the knife downward as hard as I could. The woman fell to the ground as if she was dying, though I knew better than to hope so.

I heard Ed cry out in a way that nearly stopped my heart. Stunned, I watched him fall to his knees. Whatever Envy had been using as a blade had gone all the way through Ed's torso and was dripping blood onto the floor behind him.

"No!" Al's cry matched mine. I ran at Envy, meaning to stab him as I had injured the woman, but Envy caught my arm and threw me effortlessly across the room. I landed on my right side and heard something crunch in my automail leg. Damn. . . My head had hit the floor when I landed and everything went a bit hazy. I tried to get up but lost my balance and fell dazedly.

"Leave them, Envy. Fullmetal will be dead soon enough, and the other two aren't going anywhere," the woman murmured.

"I got my revenge, Lust, I don't know who you're trying to pacify." I could hear the amusement and satisfaction in Envy's voice. What have they done to Al? Straining to see, I watched three figures leave and I had no doubt that they would make sure we couldn't follow. I tried to get up again and found that I could barely crawl, so I dragged myself across the floor towards Ed's still form. Al was near him, but too far away to do anything. He wasn't moving either.

"A-Al?" I asked, terrified that he wouldn't respond.

"Tammy?" he said, his voice quivering as if it were fading in and out.

"Why aren't you moving, what's wrong?"

"The thing I was fighting. . . Gluttony. . . He ate through pieces of my armor. I can't stand anymore. Tammy. . . Ed and I are connected. I won't be here much longer," he whispered with difficulty. I finally reached Ed and saw with relief that he was still breathing, but just barely. Thankfully his jacket covered the actual wound, but blood was pooling around him at an alarming rate.

"Al, no! You have to stay here, you can't leave yet!" I begged as I pushed myself up to a sitting position. I did what I could for Ed, trying to ease his pain and hoping his golden eyes would open.

"There's nothing. . . you can do," Al struggled to get the words out in a way that hurt to hear.

"There's got to be something!" I cried. Bits of conversations floated through my mind as I fought to think of a way to save the two brothers.

"Al, what was the array you used when you tried to bring back your mother?" I didn't want to bring up such a painful subject, but I couldn't do this alone.

"No! You can't do that!" Al shouted. "There's a reason it's forbidden, it doesn't work! There'll be a rebound. . . It'll kill you!" His shouting was barely more than a harsh whisper.

"Al, I have to. What you two have here is more important, you'll do bigger things than I ever could. Now tell me how to make the array," I said calmly, hoping the tone of my voice would end further discussion. Ed's breathing was even shallower and more ragged, blood gushing from the wound in his abdomen with every strained gasp. I knew time was nearly up, no one could lose that much blood and live. "Al, please."

"O-okay," he breathed," but you'll have to hurry. You can't trade one soul for two." His words had a peculiar sound to them, which I realized with a pang of sadness was his way of crying. I could feel his emotional pain as a physical pain in my chest and I wanted more than anything to make him stop hurting, but I couldn't. I listened carefully as Al told me what to write on the floor, using a piece of chalk from his supply. The array was ridiculously complex, involving shapes and runes I'd never thought of using before, and I worried that Al might have forgotten something, or that I had copied something wrong. As Al spoke, his voice weakened to nothing just as I finished. I saw the light in Al's eyes begin to fade out and I knew it was time.

I placed my hands on the array and pictured what I wanted to happen, how it would happen. The peaceful light of the transmutation was shot through with an angry red, and somewhere in my mind I wondered if I had screwed up. I felt a tearing pain in my hands and feet. They were dissolving, breaking off in bits and disappearing. I screamed out of pain and fear and a million things entering my mind at once - ideas, stories, alchemic discoveries, and all the facts of the past and future. I could no longer see Al or any of the warehouse. Just when I knew the stream of information had to stop or drive what was left of me completely mad, I stood before an enormous black door with horrific carvings wrought into it. Otherwise, the surroundings were a gentle white that might have gone on for eternity in all directions. The only other thing in that empty realm was a still figure in black standing in front of the colossal door. I rushed to him.

"Tammy? What are you doing here?" Ed asked in a detached way that was almost frightening.

"Making an exchange," I smiled at him affectionately. "You and Al have to stay together."

"We can't let you do that, it would take everything you have! Your life, and that's not even enough, it never has been." Ed told me. I felt a flutter of uncertainty. What else would the transmutation take? What else was there to give? But it was too late for those worries, Ed was fading out, already translucent.

"Ed, listen. I already explained this to Al, but you two are going to do big things, more important things than I could do. I don't want you two feeling bad about this, all right?" I needed to know that they could be happy after this was all over. The strange combination of pain and acceptance looked strange on Ed's usually defiant face. I could feel my presence fading out of that weird in-between world.

"I think I've got to leave," I told Ed. "Take care of yourself, and Al." He nodded helplessly and I disappeared.  
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Woah, guys! The next one's the last chapter! If you've stuck through to this point, I'm sorry that my story is this bad. If you haven't, then no worries.


	9. Chapter 9

When Edward came to, he was lying on his back. Near him, there was a transmutation circle that was horribly familiar, but completely strange. Ed's little brother Alphonse was lying in a limbless heap of scrap metal that had been a full suit of armor. Ed pushed himself up.

"Al. . . Al?" he asked, the edge of panic evident in his voice. "Al, say something," he begged.

"Brother?" Al questioned dazedly. "What happened? Where are we?"

"I - I'm not sure. . . The last thing I remember is walking with you down that road. . . but it's too cold to be fall still. . ." Ed wondered aloud.

"I can't remember anything beyond that either. . ." said Al. Ed stood carefully and began looking around. There were large splotches of blood on the floor near him, and he shivered. That much blood loss would kill someone. There were also drops of blood and a pair of bloody hand prints on the chalk-drawn array that brought back horrible memories of his and Al's attempt to bring their mother back to life.

"Ed, I think something terrible happened here!" Al's frightened voice cut into Ed's thoughts.

"Al. . ." Ed responded slowly. "Al, how could you not remember what happened to you? You're practically scrap metal, there's blood all over the place, and a set of hand prints neither of us could have made. What's going on here?" he demanded.

"I don't know, Brother," Al replied in a small voice. Ed picked up a few pieces of metal, laying them near Al.

"Here, let's get you back together," Ed said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He knew he had to be at ease for his brother, and they could think this through later. Ed clapped his hands and placed them carefully on Al's side. The metal pieces shimmered with a blue light and formed themselves into Al's arms and legs, and filled in the smaller holes in Al's armor.

"Thanks, Brother. It's good to be whole again. Now let's find a way out," Al suggested, leading his brother to what might have once been a door.

Ed clapped again, touching his hands to the twisted metal of the door frame. It turned blue and reformed into the exit it was meant to be. "Brother, where are we going now?" the younger boy asked.

"I think we should go back to Central. As much as I hate the thought of talking to the Colonel, he might be able to tell us what's going on," his older brother answered. The two continued walking until they reached the train station, where they boarded the next train to Central.

I woke up flat on my back on an unfamiliar street. Looking around, I sat up to find myself looking into the headlights of a car that was barreling straight toward me. Before I could react, someone grabbed my shoulders and dragged me backward.

"Are you alright?" I looked up to see. . . Michael?

"I. . . No. . . What's going on?" I asked dazedly. He looked down at me with obvious concern.

"Do you know where you are?" he questioned gently. I blinked.

"Aren't we in Theos?"

"Where's that? It sounds British, but you don't have the accent. . . What's your name?" Michael asked, but I was beginning to suspect it wasn't Michael.

"Um, my name's Tammy, but. . . You should know that," I mumbled. My mind churned furiously to figure out what had happened. I remembered a fight with strange creatures, a broken suit of armor, and a dying blond boy.

"No!" I gasped, jumping to my feet. The man stepped back, bewildered and wary. "Where are we?" I demanded.

"We're in the wonderful city of Boston!" he exclaimed, losing all traces of caution in his eagerness.

"Boston," I repeated. "Where exactly is Boston?" His happy look faltered.

"You mean you don't know? But. . . Everyone knows of our city! Even in Europe!" the man told me. He seemed truly upset. I didn't recognize the places he had named, and I told him so. He said we were in America, the greatest country in the world. We talked a bit more, and it turned out he knew a place I could stay, even live there if necessary. He walked me there, I thanked him, and we parted ways.

I still wasn't quite sure where I was, but the people were similar enough to the Amestrians I was used to. Maybe I could get used to living here. If this was the price to pay for Ed's life, I could deal with it. I just wished I had a way of making sure that Ed and Al were all right, but they were strong. They'd get through whatever hardships life threw at them.


End file.
